Ruby and the Turquoise Pendent
by RedEyeRuby
Summary: Saved from her home planet by the Doctor, jilted from a whirlwind romance with a human boy, Ruby and adopted sister Roxie are settling on Earth. But when they run into the infamous Sarah-Jane, it seems living on Earth is little different than expected.
1. Chapter 1

Ruby and the Turquoise Pendent

Preface

Running – it was always the running.

I was hurtling down the street as fast as I could try desperately not to fall over my mind focused on one thing. I could only imagine what terrible horrific things could be happening if I didn't get there quick enough, or if I was too late. How careless I had been not to see the signs and how very naive of me it was to assume it was all coincidence. It was all I could think about and it made it very hard to concentrate on my running. Stupid insignificant things kept popping up into my mind; mostly about how this seemed very familiar even though it was these very strange and thrilling situations that I had vowed to give up when I settled on Earth. Nevertheless, I was still running as fast as I could, I was nearly panting. There was only one thing in the world that could make me run this fast, something I had never counted on seeing ever again in my long life.

The boy I loved.

Chapter one

Well this was definitely a first.

We had just moved into our new street, Bannerman Road. Unpacking boxes of stuff in our new house, I wondered exactly how interesting living here was going to be, on a scale of 1 to boring. At the moment I had settled on a 2 because unpacking is a task of considerable boredom. Or maybe it wasn't – maybe it was a perfectly normal, perfectly indifferent task and I had just become acclimatized to amazement. I kicked one of the unopened boxes to null my boredom and I heard my tummy rumble and I sighed; I trundled over into our boring and very generic looking white kitchen. A lick of paint would sort this bad boy out. As I munched upon a ham sandwich, made from the food that Roxie had thoughtfully supplied our fridge with, I contemplated my surroundings. Despite my boredom, life was just about as perfect as it was going to get. We'd moved in pretty much successfully, we had a decent garden out the back and I hadn't chipped a nail - yet. The only flip side was school. This I was not looking forward too. I was worrying about the whole idea of attending school, mainly because I'd never been before, and my biggest worry of all – fitting in. Plus I did think it was kind of pointless.

Fitting in was never going to be a skill of mine, and I had thoroughly accepted this, but it didn't hush my qualms one bit. I was feeling quite tired. I was missing Martha lots, and the Doctor, but I simply couldn't travel with them anymore – I needed to settle. Mark the beginning of a new era. Though right now standing in a boring kitchen I wondered how long it would take me to regret my decision to give up a life of constant fantastic surprise. Unfortunately this meant blending in as a normal 16 year old human girl – something I most definitely was not. Of course I looked human. On Earth you couldn't really get away with anything else, but I'd always looked human. We all did. It was April and my Birthday had just passed. We were joining a school more than halfway through the curricular year – we'd had to fake out previous exam results and schools. We'd had to fake everything. Well... Martha's signature was real, as were our own. And how they'd managed to sort out this small house for us was completely beyond me.

Roxie however, hadn't a care in the world. Then again, she'd been to school before, so she hadn't much to worry about in the first place. She was merrily kicking another unopened box into the kitchen, whilst plaiting tiny little plaits into her long hair. She's my best friend and nothing short of a sister to me. In fact, the running story was that was my (adopted) sister, and our parents were off backpacking in India. Or some other far away country/continent. I glanced around our naked house. There were boxes everywhere...

Just then, with an impatient buzz, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

Roxie mouthed at me, _who is it?_ So I mouthed back,_ Martha! _And she just shrugged. Honestly, sometimes I think that Roxie just couldn't care less about her, I really do. I didn't mind her being careless; I knew that I was always closer to Martha than she was. We had a different kind of relationship. I chatted on the phone to Martha for a bit and began to unload the boxes we'd just moved into the kitchen. I was feeling a sky blue for the kitchen, something to compliment the white cabinets. I kept reassuring her I was fine, though I didn't really feel it and I made small talk while I listened to the comforting whirr of the TARDIS in the background of our conversation. Roxie kept shooting me quizzical looks and I ignored her. I think that was the last of the boxes. Well for now anyway. I said my goodbyes to Martha, for probably the fourth or fifth time in the last 24hrs and ended the call. I was already finding it difficult without her.

"What did Martha want?" Roxie asked helping me unload the final box. I sketched over most of the trivial details. It would make me homesick.

"She wanted to know if we were dropped off in the right area – apparently sometimes the TARDIS can play tricks on you. It once dropped of one of the Doctor's friends in Aberdeen." I told her.

"Oh." That was all she said – 'oh'. She never needed to read too much into things. Roxie knew every single detail of my life (and had lived it right alongside me too), so she knew how important this was for me, staying on Earth. She could also tell that I had the attitude of an injured athlete dead set on giving up their career. She'd be trying to cheer me up for months. Martha had told me fleetingly on the phone to look out for a Sarah-Jane Smith, who lived down our street according to the Doctor and I internally raised an eyebrow. Coincidence? I think not. She sounded very funny when she said it... like she was trying not to laugh, or she thought this would make me feel more uplifted. Well the last Smith I ever encountered was a complex story in itself. It didn't have a happy ending.

"Well this is definitely Ealing." Roxie said confidently, absent mindedly kicking a box around. I prayed to baby Jesus it didn't have anything breakable in it.

I looked down at the box. I really fancied a cup of tea, that would aid the settling in process. I opened the fridge and looked for milk. The doors were empty. Damn! My feelings felt uplifted though, perhaps a nice walk to a shop would improve my mood. I felt bad for Roxie. It was unfair to her that I felt so miserable all the time. As I gathered up some money and a jacket, yelling to Roxie where I was going, I ironically thought about running into this Smith woman. I couldn't help shake the feeling that she was familiar. I ran upstairs to my bedroom to retrieve my jacket. Wow. I've never had bedroom before either. I suppose there are lots of normal things I missed out on. I think. Then another thought slipped into my mind –what about school uniform? Argh! I will try and put off school for as long as humanly possible. Why do I look like a 16 year old girl? Why?

Just as I was going through my first silent scream of terrifying panic in my head, I left the house and noticed a girl watching me from about two doors down from where I was. I tried smiling at her, but her face remained motionless. Oh – maybe smiling wasn't the right kind of thing to do here. That didn't fill me with much confidence. I hope I haven't grown a third nose or something. I was pondering this over when I accidentally walked face first into someone and dropped my keys and purse. Whoops…

"Omigosh, I'm so sorry!" I said to the person, who began to help me collect up my things. I could feel my face hotting up in embarrassment (Please oh please don't let me bear too much of a resemblance to a tomato...!)

"That's quite alright young lady." I looked up from the pavement and found myself staring up at a middle-aged looking bloke, wearing a murky green Mac. I found this a little strange, since it was a lovely day and there weren't too many clouds in the sky. Then again, I wasn't exactly known to dress according to the weather either, so I couldn't really make a point of it. Well since I ought to meet our neighbours, I might as well start with this one.

"Hi, I'm Ruby Jones – I've just moved into that house with my b- erm, sister, Roxie." I said to him gesturing towards the small house that was yet to become a home and a mess of cardboard boxes.I could tell I was going to be terrible at this. Keeping up these appearances was going to wear on me, but I was fine with it all the same.

"How very nice to meet you my dear. I'm Robert Clarke; I live about two doors down from you, just there." Robert pointed towards a very neat looking house with sparkling white walls and ferociously clean windows. It looked like a very much taken care of sort of place. "We're newcomers like you, though we moved here only just last week and we feel very at home, the neighbourhood is most kind and friendly around here." He told me. I squinted at him in the sunlight. This man was a bit strange. I then had a flash of recollection.

"Two doors down did you say? Do you have a daughter?" I asked, intuition running wild. Sometimes I say things that are better kept in my head. And other times I say things I never planned on saying in the first place. I was quite interested in the statuesque face of the girl I had seen earlier, and I was curious. Nothing like a little mystery to get me through the day.

"Yes I do. You may run into her on your way, she just popped out minutes ago to get some milk. Knowing her, she's probably stopped around her friends' house for a natter." He said. I got the impression that Mr Clarke was a bit of a rambler, as well as strange. This was always a welcomed plus. I shifted my weight from one leg to the other, ignoring the fact that the strap from my top had fallen down my shoulder. I tried to nod and look interested but really I just wanted to get to the shop and then back to the house; I knew I was being rude but I had a lot to do.

"I saw her just when I was coming out earlier – she was watching me unload the boxes." I add-libbed a bit, hoping that Robert would give me a name to put with her face.

"That sounds like her. Verity is so easily distracted, especially at school when she is with all her friends, every time we get her report home from school; her teachers would say '_Verity would work harder if she concentrates and ignores distractions_' or something like '_Verity has a good brain but she just doesn't use it_'" He said obviously thinking back to a school report. I was bored now. I wasn't too fond of people who talked to long. I needed to leave before it got awkward. I sighed inside and focused on being bright and cheery – despite my longing to get away, I didn't want to give a bad impression.

"Well, it was very nice to talk to you Robert, but I must get going." I smiled and started to make my way (finally) to the shop, when Robert called out after me.

"If there's anything you girls need, I'll be happy to help!"

"Thank you!" I yelled back, walking down the street away from him and his boring conversation at last. He was right though, it did seem like a nice area around here and the shop wasn't very far. I peered further down the road and there also seemed to be a neighbouring chippy. Well that was tonight's tea sorted. I looked at the clock on my phone. It was around six o clock. I gave Roxie a quick ring and I received the all clear on the chip front, which cheered me up suitably. I love chips, particularly of the chip shop variety. I hoped they would be good.

Setting foot into the corner store I searched for the refrigerated isle and hummed to myself, feeling absent minded and accidentally bumped into someone for the second time today.

"I'm so sorry!" I said to the boy, whilst dryly thinking to myself that that should become my catchphrase. He laughed an easy laugh though and just smiled at me.

"It's okay." He had blond hair and grey eyes. He looked very nice. He was about to walk off when he stopped and turned to ask me,

"Are you new around here?"

"Yes," I mumbled shyly, shuffling around a bit. Not another awkward conversation. I didn't mind so much with this guy. He was easy on the eyes and not wearing a horrible Mac.

"Cool," He said, smiling warmly at me again and I smiled shyly in return. Then he left without a fuss. My type of person. I found the fridge section and got my semi skimmed without any further interruption.

As I turned my house key into our front door with a satisfactory little _click_ I felt a great deal better than I did earlier. I scrambled into our box crowded hallway hugging the order of chips to my chest and made my way to the kitchen where Roxie was sitting, reading a book.

"You were gone forever, what took you so long?" She murmured, not bothering to look up from her book. She loves a good book Roxie.

"I kept bumping into people - literally," I told her, sniffing in the aroma of chips and fighting with the crackling paper packaging to free them.

"Grab me some plates will you?"

Roxie put down her book and went over a box on the worktop and fished out very carefully too bubble wrapped plates.

"Fancy eating out of the paper?"

"Works for me!"

Instead of eating in the kitchen which was probably the more sensible option, we cosied up on our plastic covered sofa to eat our glorious dinner of chips. We figured that since it was still wrapped in the plastic, not much could go wrong. And if it did we'd say it came like that and get another one to replace it.

"Mhmm, these are really good Ruby. Good shout on the chip front," She praised me and I nodded appreciatively, enjoying my chips.

"Saves us cooking," I said between mouthfuls and she giggled.

"So who exactly did you bump into? I was wondered what on Earth could be taking you so long," She said conversationally after another gulped down mouthful of chips.

"One weirdo man in a green Mac-"

"A Mac?"

"Yes a Mac."

"A green one?" She said in a tone of coloured disbelief.

"Yes, a green one!" I replied exasperatedly, rolling my eyes. She smiled cheekily and I continued.

"And one nice looking guy. Blond hair, grey eyes, your conventional beauty," I said reeling off a quick description of the guy who had not irritated me.

"Name?" She pressed interestedly.

"I was looking for milk Roxie," I reminded her.

"Doesn't hurt to ask," She said pointedly and I gave her a gentle nudge.

"Well he seemed nice. Maybe he'll be at our school," I said, instantly regretting mentioning school.

"Ugh, school! I can't believe I have to go to school. I can walk and talk and own a house under a false name, what else do I need to know?" I complained and Roxie patted my shoulder sympathetically.

"It's not that bad. Besides this is a matter of fitting in. It'll rouse suspicion with the neighbours if we don't go, they could call the educational authorities on us – or worse, child protection services or something. But listen; seeming as its Thursday, I'll cut you a deal,"

"Why is Thursday international deal day or something?" I interrupted and she narrowed her eyes at me and I stayed quiet, showing her I was ready to listen.

"Seeming as it's practically already the weekend, we can start school on Monday. Besides we need to decorate the house," She said excitedly with a twinkle in her eye that could only mean art-based trouble. I flicked my eyes over to a large collection of paints, wallpapers and art like accessories that had seemed to have escaped my attention until now. I groaned.

"That is so much effort!" I moaned and Ro narrowed her eyes at me again. She knew I didn't want to go to school badly enough.

"Fine I'm in," I reluctantly agreed, "But I want to do the kitchen."

"That's fine. I'll start the living room tomorrow I think. Are you feeling any particular colour scheme?" She said excitedly and I shook my head.

"Fantastic!" She squealed and I inched away from her. My expression was still playful though and she smiled. It was hard not to feel a little enthusiastic when Roxie was this excited.

I knew it was one o clock, and I knew I would be shattered tomorrow but I just couldn't sleep. I'd slung a bathroom towel or two over my window to act as curtains before I put mine up tomorrow, but the glow of the streetlamps were still getting in and my room seemed very empty apart from the surrounding boxed up furniture. I felt lonely. I didn't want to wake Roxie up by going into her room, she needed her sleep just as much as I did. I curled up onto my side and looked at my phone resting on my bedside table. I weighed up the odds of Martha answering and managed to talk myself out of it. What was she going to say that could make me feel better? I hated feeling so needy and depressed. This move was supposed to sort that. I suppose I had a lot to get used to. Living in a house was a lot different from living in the TARDIS and that was all I could ever remember.

Then my thoughts once again turned to me being different. I won't ever 'fit in' anywhere. I've spent my life recovering from this huge tragic accident or something; I can't remember. The first memory I have is waking up on the TARDIS floor while someone cried behind me. I remember The Doctor and his kind words. The words of another lost soul. He told me all about myself. How I had come from the planet that was the twin of his, the beautiful planet of Sunlok. The burning pink sky as if it was locked in a perpetual sunset and the huge mountains that glistened like diamonds in the twin suns that circled the planet. But, of course, there was a reason I was rescued into the TARDIS and not sitting on my lovely planet enjoying lemonade was, I remember him gravely telling me, because my planet was burning. Burning to death. There was fire everywhere and apparently I had become unconscious from the almost deadly smoke and I know I would have died if he just left me there. The Doctor had done me a fantastic kindness.

It was as you might have guessed Martha who was crying but I never actually asked her why. I was too shocked to register the true sadness of the event. I don't remember any of the destruction or the smoke and flames he told me about. I didn't even know what I was or where I came from. I cuddled my covers closer around me. I did know one thing. I knew that ever since I had woken up on the TARDIS floor, I've felt like I'm desperately looking something. I haven't told anyone. It's a very weird ongoing sensation. To not remember anything about a life you have led and still have desires from it. I have no idea what I'm looking for, or whether I'm completely delusional. I just keep that feeling to myself. As I restlessly flipped onto my back in my bed, trying to get comfortable I couldn't shake the desire now that I'd thought of it. Something had changed though I noticed. I felt a tiny bit closer to whatever I was looking for. And with that, and a few more relaxing thoughts, I sank into a pleasantly dreamless sleep.

I woke feeling refreshed and the daylight was bursting through my make shift curtains. I smiled. Today felt like a better day. I could hear Roxie pottering around in the kitchen downstairs and I snuggled further into my covers, rolling over to the opposite side of my bed. This was something I could definitely get used to – would Roxie kill me if I never got out of bed? It was a very comfy place to be. There was a soft knock on the door and I stirred.

"Breakfast in bed?" Said a very enticing voice that could only belong to a very lovely sister.

"Yes please," I grumbled in that 'I've just woken up' kind of way. She smiled looking pleased and made me scooch over so she had room to sit on my bed to eat our breakfast. It smelled very good.

"Mhmm, egg on toast," I said appreciatively before I tucked in. Now if this wasn't the life, I didn't know what is.

When we both finished, we sat, slightly crumb covered, on my bed wondering what exactly to do with our day. It was Friday and as promised we were not going to school. Instead we were going to spend our weekend decorating our new little house. I twiddled my necklace in my hands. The chain fell quite low on me and the pendent was quite large. It was an oval shaped smooth turquoise stone set in the middle of thousands of tiny turquoise rays embedded on a sterling silver back. It fit easily into the palm of my hand and I often played with it when I was stressed or bored. Or in this case, in a fit of pure absent-mindedness. As it was quite a statement piece of jewellery I normally wore it underneath my clothes - I never took it off.

Roxie saw I was playing with it and she mildly pursed her lips and her eyes flashed over to the box in it came in, sitting lonely upon my half made dressing table, with only a silver but empty perfume bottle for company. She looked sad. I didn't bring up that I'd noticed her face. I hardly wanted to think about it myself.

"So where do you want to start?" I asked in a mock cheerful tone and Ro snapped right out of her sad reverie.

"I was thinking, get the downstairs sorted and then work on our bedrooms," She said in an organized manner.

"Yes boss," I saluted her and she giggled.

"Get dressed," Was her departing note and I stuck my tongue out at her as I took our crumby breakfast tray downstairs. As I was clearing away I idly looked out our kitchen window and was stunned to see the blond haired boy I had ran into yesterday casually glancing from across the road whilst walking along. He caught my eye and appeared to laugh in surprise, gave me a little wave and continued walking. I knew I must've looked wide eyed and pyjama'd and I had no idea what to do. Why do we have no blinds? I need to get cracking on decorating this kitchen, pronto!

Two hours and some paint splattered clothes later, the Kitchen was looking a bit less generic and a bit more like home. It absolutely reeked of paint but it looked good – an attractive sky blue colour and as I had predicted it really brought the cupboards to life. I was humming along to my iPod and, as per usual it seems these days, nice and wrapped up in my thoughts. They were all over the place; I was really digging around my head. Worrying about everything. I didn't feel very distressed or anything; maybe this was just a logical and methodical process I felt I had to go through. I think in the big picture, no matter how much I thought and worried about everything, or obsessed over insignificant things or moaned pointlessly for something to do I could get through it. I could get by. I would get by because I had suffered worse things and I was putting that aside to try and settle here. I'd never settled anywhere before in my whole life. Or at least what I can remember of my life. It was then that I realised that I was a very depressing person. At least I was honest with myself.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and continued to hum and paint. It was very therapeutic and relaxing. I smiled to myself. This kitchen was going to look fantastic. If there was one thing I should learn from human teen culture is that I should adopt a mantra of 'Don't get sad – get fabulous'. It seemed very fitting. It got me thinking about philosophies and I suddenly found myself coming over all metaphorical and then me painting this kitchen seemed to suddenly appear to be a very apt metaphor of how I was restarting a new life. Perhaps, painting a new Ruby.

I poked my head through the doorway (from which I had removed the door from in order to open up the hallway a bit) to see how Roxie was getting on in the living room. It was a feminine shade of lilac with and outstanding feature wall painted a much richer, much darker purple. She'd unwrapped the sofa (also deep purple) and appeared to be assembling lilac and other varieties of purple patterned cushion covers onto the cushions. It all looked fairly awesome, I like purple.

"It's looking fantastic in here Ro," I complimented her work and she smiled contentedly.

"I love decorating," She sang and I laughed.

"Do you feel at one with the paint?" I joked, and she nodded dreamily and then stuck her tongue out at me. She scrabbled up from the floor, nearly tripping over some stray paintbrushes.

"Let's see what you've done with the kitchen then," she asked as she wandered through into my sunny little kitchen.

"Not bad, not bad," She said appreciatively and I smiled proudly.

"Very open, light, airy... I like that you've taken the door out. Makes it much more accessible." She nodded looking very pleased.

"Very very nice. I'm proud of you Rubes," She smiled and I beamed back at her.

"Awesome, I'm glad you like it. I just need to find the table and chairs to put in here..."

"I think they're still in the lounge. With any luck I haven't painted over them thinking they were the wall." I had to giggle. I grabbed the table and chairs from the living room and brought them into my fabulously painted kitchen. The table was small and circular, white with yellow edges. The chairs matched the table and were predominantly white with the occasional yellow feature. It pulled the room together nicely. I realised that with all the blue, yellow and white, I had accidentally turned our kitchen into a sky. I laughed to myself – typical.

We were stuck for tea again and I could feel Roxie's resentment about having to order a take away again – this time Chinese – whilst I was growing very fond of ready cooked food being delivered to my door. Since we had an operational kitchen now (even though if you touched the paint for more than a second I guess you could say it was technically still wet) we arranged our delicious smelling Chinese food on our lovely table. Roxie picked out two sets of wooden sticks out of the white plastic take away bag and I frowned.

"What are they?" I asked.

"Chopsticks. You eat Chinese food with them."

"Do they not have forks in China?"

"Apparently not." She seemed very amused and I shook my head in disbelief. I gave eating with the chopsticks an admirable go but after about five hungry minutes of failing to get food into my mouth I surrendered to the fork. We didn't have much to small talk about so we were eating our food in companionable silence. I started to feel homesick again, wondering if Martha would make another call and my mind flittered back to our conversation yesterday about a woman called Sarah-Jane Smith who had travelled with the Doctor. I wondered what she might look like, if I ever had a chance meeting with her. I started fiddling with my necklace whilst I ate, feeling uncomfortable. Roxie snapped her head up to look at me with an alarmed expression on her face.

"What?"

She relaxed and said nothing. I was used to this; it can take a while getting used to being very close to someone who can see right into your mind. Sometimes when I think of things, I also think of things unconsciously that I have no idea I am thinking; but Roxie can hear it all. Sometimes she can't help herself reacting. I did narrow my eyes at her though. She wasn't relaxed at all – she was wearing her poker face.

"Why are you looking like that?" I asked in a suspicious tone. She retaliated with a question.

"Why are you thinking of some woman called Sarah-Jane Smith?" Even hearing the name spoken out loud was grating on me. I felt tense. It was dawning on me why. I started playing with my necklace again. Roxie speared some of her Cantonese style pork and took a mouthful. She absent mindedly stared out of our window. It was still nice and light outside.

"Smith." I sighed out loud, nudging my food around my plate.

"What about her?" Roxie quizzed, not seeming too bothered.

"Her? Oh..." She looked at me slightly gravely then and I felt quite foolish. That was why the name bothered me, it was so obvious. Of course it ached to remember him but something about Sarah-Jane made me want to remember him – I'd only heard her name in a passing conversation. I then read Roxie's face again and I knew she had worked out something else too. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. I started thinking harder now but I was finding it difficult; what was it about this woman that clouded over my memory?

Roxie froze; a reaction to stress. She frowned and then briskly started to put things away from another cardboard box. I squinted at her and idly wondered if she could sift through my brain and save me all the effort. I knew she could hear what I was thinking nice and clear. A wave of sadness suddenly washed right over me and I dropped my fork on the table. Roxie sighed then and proceeded to start clearing up (she hates mess). Something flickered in my brain and then fizzled out before it had a chance to live – I could feel a headache coming on. I rubbed my temples, annoyed. I could hear Ro shuffling about clearing away plates and plastic, muttering to herself. I wasn't really paying much attention until she started rummaging through a small cardboard box I'd left on the side. I'd forgotten to take it upstairs with me after I'd finished decorating. She picked up a small wooden box out of the cardboard one. It had tiny golden flowers engraved on it. I winced. It was like the inconsequential box was screaming at me. Roxie stared at it, and then raised her gaze to meet mine. She sat down with it clasped in her hands and sighed.

"Ro, are you okay?" I asked, putting my hand gently on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I was just…. Never mind. This is yours isn't it?" She pushed the small box to me. The silence was long but I held it well.

"He gave it to you, didn't he?" She quizzed. Adrenalin pierced my heart. I felt slightly woozy but pulled myself together – I wasn't that weak. In fact, I was pretty strong. Strong enough to withstand some majorly crushing blows.

"Well?" Roxie asked again. I looked at her. My best friend is very beautiful. Her long dark brown hair was flopping into her blue eyes, partially interrupting her interested stare. She's taller than I am, but not by too much and she's got a cracking figure. Right now she was digging up some memories in brain that I was trying hard to ignore.

I have a very complex past.

"Yeah… he did." I managed to croak. We both looked at each other then, feeling the rise of a very emotional moment. Roxie came closer and offered a supportive hug that I took with good grace.

"When he gave it to you..." She began gently. I raised my eyebrows at her. So we were really going to do this? I sighed. This was so not what I wanted to talk about.

"….He said something to you. What did he say?" I held the box close, suddenly having an agonizing flashback of when he gave me the box. Terrifying fire blazed and loomed over us, before we got torn apart; his eyes were etched with pain you could only imagine living a thousand lifetimes to experience.

"I don't remember." I lied, just as airily as she'd brought the subject up. Ro just raised an eyebrow, knowing full well I was lying. I know she's not stupid; she's just clever enough to swallow that lie so I didn't get pushed over the edge. The memories came flowing into my brain anyway. When I'd been given the box, it was before the fire had reached us. Then Roxie, The Doctor and Martha had shown up, dragging me kicking and screaming away from the love of my life …

Things are hard.

"I'm going to make a cuppa, you want one?" I said suddenly, standing up and walking to the kettle, hastily putting the box in my pocket.

I didn't blame them. Of course I didn't.

"Umm, no thanks." She said, adjusting to the lift of tension in the room.

"Oh damn it! The electricity has gone. We'll never be able to call an electrician in time..." I said forlornly, yearning for my cup of tea. Then an intelligent thought occurred to me and my new acquaintance's words echoed inside my head.

"If there's anything you girls need, I'll be happy to help…" I murmured under my breath.

"What are you waffling on about now?" Roxie said in that oh-so-sensitive way she has.

"I know who can fix our electric." I said proudly smiling at her.

"Who? We don't know anybody around here!" she said, shooting a look of stone my way. And now for the lynch pin of my plan...

"You don't, but I do." I told her.

"Who?" She asked, looking puzzled.

"Mr Robert Clarke." She still looked mystified.

"Who's he?"

"Our next door neighbour…"

"Oh... with the horrible green Mac? Where did you meet him?"

"On the way to the corner shop.

"You bumped into him, didn't you?"

"Yes…"

"Ruby...! She sighed exasperatingly, shaking her head for extra effect.

I'm pretty sure that she wasn't all that narked though, because all she really wanted was for the electrics to be fixed and her cuppa. I could sense she wanted one.

"Okay, I'll go ask him." I said, determined to be successful for once.

I walked down the road to Mr Clarke's house. It still marginally freaked me out how eerily clean it was – creepy. But I got over my collywobbles and knocked on the blue painted door. A youngish looking woman, wearing a pink apron with (yuck!) frills on it. She was also wearing oven mitts and carrying a baking tin.

"Umm… Mrs Clarke?" I took an intelligent guess at who the woman in the doorway was.

"Yes?" she answered rather pointedly, as if I was a nasty smell.

"Err… is Mr Clarke in? I'm Ruby Jones – I've just moved in down the road." I told her, hoping it would make her want to make me feel slightly more welcome than a squished slug begging for a cup of tea. Great.

"Oh, yes, you're one of the new girls aren't you? How silly of me to forget! Of course he's in; let me get him for you…" Mrs Clarke said her blonde ponytail swishing as she talked. How could she forget? The woman didn't even know me!

"! THERE'S A GIRL CALLED RUBY AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!" Mrs Clarke yelled up the stairs, which was shortly followed by a thunder of footsteps in the shape of Mr Clarke.

"What seems to be the problem Ruby?" He asked, looking concerned. I got over my shivers and spoke.

"Our electricity has gone out, and I was wondering if you could have a go at fixing it?" I questioned hoping that he could – it was getting rather chilly on the doorstep.

"Yes, yes! Of course my dear! I'll be round in just a tick. Now where did I put my boots…?" He wondered of to go and find his boots and left me and Mrs Clarke standing at the door. It was beginning to rain, in a very April like fashion… so much for the clear skies and sun.

"Well I'd better be going then. It was very nice to meet you Mrs Clarke." I smiled at her and she beamed back. Her teeth were completely white.

"Oh please, call me Jane!" She exclaimed her ponytail swishing again.

One awkward hour later...

"There you go girls, all working." Robert said proudly, admiring his handy work.

"Thank you so much, you do not know how grateful I am!" Roxie gushed, racing towards the kettle and flicking the switch. That girl was in a serious need of some caffeine. Well that was one problem done with, only the rest of the house to deal with. I looked around at the cardboard boxes that still littered the bottom of the stair and though of our unfurnished bedrooms up the stairs; this was going to take forever...

"Yeah, thanks." I said showing him the door, nearly tripping over a box on my way there.

"It was nice to meet you Rob!" Roxie yelled after him as he waved good bye and I shut the door.

"That man is seriously weird; don't ever bring him into this house ever again. I mean, what is with that sludge green Mac? Has he seen the weather outside? It's a perfectly sunny day! He looked like he should've been out fishing somewhere rather than living two doors down from us. I told him he could take it of inside, but he went all defensive like he wasn't wearing anything underneath. In fact, what if he wasn't?" Roxie slated, her eyes popping wide at her last thought, turning into the biggest bitch ever right before my eyes. And I was about to join her.

"Well in his defence it did start to drizzle whilst I was waiting on the doorstep... although he was wearing the exact same outfit when I bumped into him earlier. He isn't the only oddly dressed Clarke y'know; his wife, _'call me Jane'_, looks like she's just stepped right out of a _Bramley's_ apple pie advert – she was even carrying a baking tin!" I informed Ro, who had just finished making her cuppa.

"There is definitely something going on in that house." She concluded, with a ferocious sip of tea. So we had weird neighbours living further down the road...great. Just our luck.

"Yup, we have got to find out what." There was me thinking I'd left all of that behind. Ha, silly me!

I wandered back into the kitchen; Roxie had fixed our digital clock onto the far facing wall, in between two white cupboards. I took a moment to look around. So this was home... I was beginning to like it. Hopefully it would give me some of the peace I needed. I wandered into our living room (literally about five steps from the kitchen, in and out of the hall) and started to methodically unpack and arrange stuff from the remaining boxes. It was an odd way to sooth my mind but it seemed to do the trick.

After I'd successfully plugged in the TV (...after three goes) I could sit down on the sofa we'd viciously ripped cling film off a couple of hours ago. I guessed Roxie was upstairs, sorting her room... or maybe having a lie down. Our day had started so busy after all. I will never know how Ro and Martha managed to arrange all those calls for our things (that we'd only bought about 3 hours previously). Mind reading must have its perks. I sighed to myself... what to do! I'd never had quite so much time to myself before. I couldn't decide whether I thought about joining RO upstairs but then I'd probably get roped into helping her sort her room. I know she likes her things sorted quickly. I'm much messier, plus I take ages to sort stuff out, I'll never get it all done by Monday. Oh god... school. I'd pushed that thought to the back of my mind pretty well. However this brought less pressing (but more disturbing) thoughts to the front of my mind. I rather wished they'd go back to wherever they were hiding.

_Sarah-Jane Smith_, I thought to myself as I idly flicked from channel to channel. There was something about her name that did strange things in my head. Just then Roxie popped her head around the lounge door, startling me.

"What are you trying to think about?" She said quickly, her tone as sharp as knives, taking me by surprise yet again.

"What do you mean?" I said, frowning and flicking some of my hair out of my eyes. My fringe has got quite long. Ro's face was pinched with concentration and she rushed over to sit opposite of me on the sofa and her blue eyes probed at me but she seemed to find nothing; at first. Steadily, her lips parted into a profound, and abruptly horrified 'O' shape whilst her eyes glazed over. I put my hands on her shoulders and shook her slightly. She was scaring me.

"What is it? What are you talking about?" I said, studying her face intently. She blinked a few times and stared at me.

"Think of Sarah-Jane." She whispered. I frowned some more, but did as I told. But I knew nothing about her, what was she doing?

"There, right there, what is that?" she said, and for a fleeting moment her words reminded me of the Doctor and I pined for the TARDIS.

"What is _what_?" I said, irritated now. What on Earth was she talking about? She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're telling me you can't feel that?" She said sceptically and I pursed my lips.

"Well I think you know that I'd tell you if I knew." I said pointedly, annoyed now.

"You're finding it hard to remember her, aren't you?" she said, her eyebrow still raised, until she clocked my quick change in expression and I pounced.

"Remember? What do you mean remember? Have I met her before? Do I know her? All I can think of is when we were talking about her and when Martha mentioned her. Roxie what the hell are you talking about?" Her expression was a complete poker face and I groaned in frustration, flipping back on the sofa.

"Why do you do this to me?" I moaned and she smiled faintly.

"I don't mean to, honest. I just worry about you too much." I flipped back up to look at her again.

"What am I missing Ro? Tell me, what is it I'm supposed to feel?" I nearly begged her, hoping for a good reaction. I'm so desperately fed up of constantly being in the dark. Roxie sighed then, looking troubled and torn.

"I didn't mean 'remember' her, exactly; it's just easy for me to say that when the way I look into your mind is so retrospective and introspective at the same time." She said smoothly, and both of our faces softened. I shuffled closer to my sister and she twirled a strand of my hair between her fingers.

"It's like something's blocking you... or restraining you more like, when you think of her name. But it just seems to be deep in your mind, something that you consciously fail to acknowledge, but I seem to be able to see everything... and nothing at all."

"Thanks that made the world of sense." I said half sarcastically. I averted my eyes to the lilac lounge walls.

"Cheer up Ruby. This is supposed to be happy." Ro said half heartedly but she knew how I really felt.

"You might find him." She said softly, almost knowingly. I didn't pause in thought to take in the tone of her voice. I'd given up looking for him years ago. I'd come to accept that a vast part of me would just be an empty void. Or at least that was how it felt.

"Yeah, if my subconscious stops playing tricks on me." I scoffed. Finding my love was a dream I'd given up on long ago. Well, maybe that wasn't true. I still have a little hope. Stupid, useless, vain hope. I wiped a tear from my eye and Roxie came back to me again.

"Just when I was about to leave." She murmured jokingly.

"Yeah." I said light heartedly, playing along. I looked right at her, her face a picture. Looking sort of far away, but I knew she was right there in the moment. Like she was day dreaming and concentrating hard on something right in front of her at the same time, blue eyes dancing in the light.

"I know how you feel." The sentence was heaped with empathy. I rubbed her arm. It didn't seem fair at all that Roxie had to suffer along with me.

"I know you do. I'm sorry." Her face creased into a well worn smile.

"I can't stop listening when I start – it's a terrible habit I need to get out of." She said and I laughed without humour. I wiped away a few more tears and got of the sofa then, not being able to stand the mourning feeling in the room any longer.

"You should try blocking me out more often." I said jokingly, but really meaning what I said. It wasn't right that Roxie should have to listen to the traumas in my head all day as well as me.

"Yes." She said, understanding, and I could tell by her tone that she wasn't listening anymore. A tiny part of brain acknowledged that my head felt a tiny bit lighter without her reading it. It always felt that way. I sloped up the stairs to my hardly-there-room and flopped down on my bed. The plastic on the mattress crackled and I covered my face with my hands. Of course this was so much better than the inside of the TARDIS, but it was going to be a while before this house felt like a home to me.

Thinking of the TARDIS brought back a flurry of memories and I blushed. Sometimes I felt almost ill remembering and thinking about that boy. Well. More of my loss. I was always thinking of him...he's beautiful. He was my whole life. I sighed and rubbed my head. And I felt more tears escaping. But somehow it was nice to think of him for a bit... he had messy chocolate brown hair that never managed to be tidy and the most gorgeous eyes I'd ever seen.

I sighed and lazily looked around for my sheets and duvets and such. I spotted a pile of fabric neatly folded up in the corner and I went to inspect it closer. I let out a startled laugh and knelt down on the floor by the pile. It was a gorgeous, fluffy and warm deep purple throw! How had I not discovered this sooner? I stroked it and admired its softly soft feeling. I must thank Roxie for this! Of course all my sheets and duvets were there too, of a purple colour. I sat there, all wrapped up in my new throw, immersed in duvets thinking about how I should thank Roxie when she wandered in. Did I believe she wasn't listening to me? Who knows.

"What on Earth are you doing?" She giggled, sitting cross legged opposite me and we burst into fits of giggles.

"They're so lovely. How did you know?" Roxie looked embarrassed then. I nudged her.

"Come on, tell, tell." I said and she smiled embarrassedly. I tucked my hair behind my ear and looked at her expectantly.

"Well when you dozed off in the TARDIS, I got a quick glimpse of what you wanted your bedroom to look like." She admitted, her eyes wandering off and avoiding me. I just laughed again.

"I knew it!" I giggled.

"Ruby this is a lot of laughing." She smirked and I just nodded, feeling very silly. But it was nice.

"I think I'm a bit high." I joked and smiled. Things were looking up.

_*Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!*_

"_Wake up world, its 7:00AM and its predicted to be another unusually sunny day here at..."_

I fumbled around, randomly slapping my alarm clock in a desperate search for the snooze button. Roxie was standing in the doorway of my room, brushing her teeth.

"C'mon Ruby, time to get up! You don't want to be late for your first day of school! Get up, get up, get up!" She yanked me out of bed with a mouth full of toothpaste and sent me in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hhhhhhhhhuuuurrrmmmmphhhhhh…"

Or at least that's what I think I said when I was exposed to the light pouring out of the kitchen window…

"Eat, now." Roxie said, shoving a bowl of multi-grain cereal in front of me. We'd got the downstairs looking really good over the weekend and the upstairs was coming along nicely. I felt a lot more settled in; shame all that feeling was gone now! School, what a swizz. No one really needs to go, do they?

"Yes, we really need to go. Now get a move on!" She said fiercely and I just glared at her. I wolfed that down and then went upstairs to get changed - I was nearly ready when there was something wrong.

"Roxie…"

"Yeah?"

"How do you do up a tie?"

"Come here..." She sighed exasperatingly, doing it up for me. I was nervous as hell. I checked my reflection in the hallway mirror and smiled weakly back at myself. I looked alright. Possibly a bit nerdy. No, way to nerdy. I raced back up stairs.

"Ruby!" Roxie yelled up the stairs and I launched myself into my room before she got me and locked the door. She banged on it so hard I was worried the door would just give in and break.

"What?" I said casually, airily overlooking my hasty retreat up the stairs and almost embarrassing flinging of self into my room. I heard her sigh.

"What are you doing?" She her muffled voice travelling into my room, in that tone of when a child is doing something you've told them a million times not to do.

"Changing." I said with my head stuck in my wardrobe. I loosened my tie and ditched my jumper and pulled out a blazer I had been saving for this particular occasion. I ran my fingers through my hair to give it a bit of volume and smiled at my much better looking reflection. I flung the door open and faced Roxie.

"Miles better." She appraised with a confident grin and I nudged her playfully.

We managed to leave the house on time and also (by some ridiculous miracle) we managed to get to school on time too. I walked up to the big metal gates and walked across the playground, following Roxie to what was obviously reception. I let her do all the talking. I found myself unexpectedly mute. Also pulling at my skirt a bit too.

"Quit staring at everything!" She hissed at me. Ooops.

"Sorry it's just all so ordinary…" I whispered back. And I wasn't kidding – halls! With fake plants and everything! This made me think way back. Back to some happier, much less complicated times.

"Hi, can I help?" said the receptionist. She seemed nice enough. Too bad I was having possibly a life changing epiphany. Did I know Sarah-Jane? This was something I was likely to remember. Then why couldn't I? My mind was way ahead of me though.

"Err, yes, I'm Roxie Harper and this is Ruby Jones-" she pointed briefly in my direction, giving me a confused look.

"-we're new in school and we need a timetable and what classes we're in and stuff."

I was so glad Roxie had got his covered. Even if I wasn't in the middle of something big I would have probably said I'd wondered in here by mistake and ask directions to the nearest chippy (which I already knew since I went there to buy our tea the other night).

"Here you go girls – we've made sure that you're both in the same form and you seem to be in most of your classes together."

Roxie.

"Oh my god I am so thick. Thick, thickety, thick, thick! The thickest idiot of thick town!" I burst out, forgetting that I was no longer in a time travelling box with the Doctor and in fact in a reception where social norms were required and no one would understand the what I'd just said roughly translated to 'I've worked it out' or 'I now understand the giant blaringly obvious solution'.

"Welcome to Park Vale." The lady said handing us our things, sounding genuinely quite sincere despite the mildly horrified and embarrassed look on her face. Roxie looked mortified.

"Thank you." I mumbled as the bell rang for us to go to registration, feeling more than embarrassed. Fortunately I was a tiny bit too happy to care.

"What are you playing at?" She silently fumed.

"Listen." I said, walking along side her.

"What? I can't hear anything."

I rolled my eyes and stopped her right in the middle of the strangely empty corridor.

"No Roxie. _Listen_!" I said pointedly and her facial expression became glassy. Her lips parted into a thrilled 'o' shape and she looked straight at me with nothing but pure excitement on her face.

"They're related! You finally worked it out." the fantasticalness of the discovering somewhat disheartened by a distinct lack of people to hug.

"Amazing." Roxie said and I raised an eyebrow. Her poker face returned.

"What?" I said, overly suspicious. Ro pursed her lips. I sighed and folded my arms whilst a small part of my brain acknowledged that I should be in lessons. The big part didn't care.

"Ruby-" she began, and the tone of her voice was intense. "-You know so much, and yet somehow, you manage to remember so little. What's happened to you?" She said, half puzzled, half worried. I was getting a bit worried myself. Scrap that, a lot worried.

"What do you mean '_what's happened to me?_'? Nothing has happened to me, you know everything that has happened to me! And you were there for the most of it, and if that wasn't enough you can frickin' read my mind as well! Ro you're half a step away from being pretty much omniscient in my life."

Roxie smirked at that.

"Sorry. You know how I get."

"Yes I do. It's amazingly frustrating." Ro fished out the map from our pile of welcome stuff and started peering at it. I felt something distinct jingle in my pocket as I looked around for a clock. I didn't really care. I just wanted to go home. I was in an oddly good mood for remembering things now. I was getting swept away in the image of my special someone in my mind whilst Roxie was babbling on about directions. It was almost like I could feel his arms around me. He felt so in reach...

"Right, let's see, we're in class 11D. Hmm... Well according to the map it's…" I sighed, pulling myself out of my strangely real reverie and saw someone coming in our direction. I could make this a thousand times easier by just asking this person.

"Hey!" I called out at him. He turned around and walked over to where we were standing.

"What?" He said bluntly. Charming.

"Hi, we're new here can you help us please?" I said with the greatest of ease. Roxie may have the knack when it comes to people at desks (and social norms), but I have definitely got it when it comes to lads. And this one was particularly cute. Sort of blondish brown hair, light grey eyes. He was taller than me too. Then I realised I recognised him. God, I have been so slow recently.

"Sure. We met the other day didn't we?" he said with a charming smile.

"Yes. In the shop and embarrassingly through a window in my pyjamas." I said light heartedly. He chuckled.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"We can't find our form room." I explained whilst Roxie was still (uselessly) looking at the map.

"Which form are you in?" He asked, not freaking out in the slightest. Hmm, he must've been new before as well.

"11D." I told him, while Roxie was still mumbling to herself in the background.

"Hey! That's my class, I'll take you there."

"Cool." I said, smiling. I nudged Roxie.

"Ro." I hissed, nudging her harder.

"Roxie!" I said in an attempt to get her attention, with an accompanied shove.

"…and then we turn left… … …What!" She said, slightly irritated. Why was she sounding irritated? If anyone should be irritated, it should be me!

"That nice-looking lad that I told you about is taking us to our form room!" I hissed for the third time.

"Oh, how did you manage that? Ooh, he is cute!" She said marvelling at the lads undeniably certified cuteness. I saw a twinkle flash in her blue eyes instantly, and she flipped her dark hair over her shoulder.

"I know. Now follow!" I said, already walking away, and catching up with the lad.

"Oh, you never said, what's your name?" I casually asked.

"It's Chris." I mused over that for a couple of moments, and then re-focused my attention to the conversation. If I keep getting distracted by trying to remember things I wasn't going to get anywhere.

"I'm Ruby, and that's Roxie. We're sisters." I said, pointing over to where she was (which was only actually a couple of steps behind us).

"Sisters? You don't look very related." He said, looking at me as if he was having déjà vu or something.

"Erm, adopted sisters." I clarified with a smile. He grinned.

"Awesome. Have you been here long?

"Nope, just moved in this week." I told him.

"Here we are then!" Chris said pointing to one of the many doors that were dotted along the side of the corridor. It had 11D written in big letters on it…

"Thanks…" I mumbled to him and went to sit down in the empty seats at the back with Roxie.

"Ooh, he was dreamy…" She said with a distant look she wears when she's day dreaming.

"Ro! Snap out of it! And promise me you'll never use the word dreamy like that ever again..." I whisper-shouted at her snapping my fingers in front of her face. Then suddenly it jumped out at me (a thought I mean – a kipper didn't jump out and slap me if that's what you're thinking).

"I remember!" I gasped. Jesus I was doing a lot of remembering today. Maybe Roxie was right when she said I knew so much but remembered so little.

"What?" She said, immediately knowing that something was wrong. Our teacher (Mrs Bakermore) had just finished the register and Roxie had obviously clocked me staring at Chris (giving her the – wrong - impression that I fancied him).

"The Slitheen…"

"What about them? What about the Slitheen?" She asked, getting a worried frown beginning to occur on her forehead. She carefully scanned the classroom for Slitheen.

"Chris is the guy that I bumped into on the day that we were being chased by the Slitheen!" I could not have put it any simpler than that. It seemed like ages ago! And something oh-so-insignificant as bumping into a teenage boy who happened to be the first person I met in Ealing. The coincidence was baffling.

"Oh! I get it!" She replied, my hectic deduction sinking into her brain.

"I knew we shouldn't have moved here," she worried and I frowned at her.

"I like it here." I said sternly.

We managed to sit through most of our lessons relatively well. The initial novelty was wearing off fast and I found myself doodling in my lessons. The bell rang for lunch (finally) and I made a speedy exit.

"I've got to find him!" I practically yelled at her, yanking her across the hall and out into the school grounds.

"Why?"

"He seems nice!" I said cheerfully.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

"Chris!"

I yelled over to him. He turned around and smiled. He was with another boy that I couldn't quite make out. He left to go somewhere before we arrived anyway, so I couldn't meet any new faces for now.

"Hi." I panted, getting my breath back. He smiled at the both of us. Roxie had her arms folded across her chest and I knew she was feeling sceptic.

"This is going to sound extremely weird, but..." I trailed off, not entirely sure how to proceed. He looked sort of understanding. I gave it another go.

"What were you doing last Wednesday?" I said, inspiration coming to me in a flash.

"Last Wednesday? Err… I went food shopping for my mum, why do you ask?" He said looking at me warily. He seemed hesitant and reluctant to answer.

"Did you bump into a girl that looked just like me, and did she accidentally break your bag and make all of your shopping fall out and apologised?" I looked at him meaningfully. Roxie was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second, I could practically feel her prickling by my side. She didn't say anything though. She knew I was right. Chris should've looked troubled or freaked out but he mostly looked suspicious. And mildly excited.

"Yeah… hang on how do you know all of that?" He tried to clue up, but didn't quite get it.

I waited patiently for the penny to drop.

"It was you…" he mused, finally getting it. Roxie half turned to leave but I grabbed her arm and she stopped.

"What are you then? Spies?" he was half joking, but I could see the curiosity was prominent in his eyes. I made a split decision to tell him. Ro and I could use some allies.

"Well, not exactly… you see, we have these friends…"

We'd relocated to a less populated, more tree covered area of the playing grounds where we'd be less likely to be overheard. Roxie looked furious. I was just avoiding her gaze; she could've stopped me at any point if she'd wanted to.

"…so you're telling me that these, friends of yours travel... the universe?" He said, still trying to take in my (shock) news. I could feel Ro radiating disbelief with a thoroughly disapproving air. She doesn't trust as easily as I do, and I was having some funny feelings about Chris.

"Yep. So when I bumped into you and all of your shopping – I'm really sorry about that by the way - that was like, last week for you, wasn't it?"

"Yes…"

"It was months ago for us. Maybe more."

"No way! You're kidding!" He exclaimed searching my face for signs of kid.

"Nope. It's all true I'm afraid." There was silence for moment or two. Then Chris spoke.

"That is so cool..."

Phew! I was so relieved that I could've kissed him.

"Thank goodness. But you mustn't breathe a word of this to anybody!" I said urgently in case our complete lives were going to end up splattered all over the newspaper the next minute. This was where split decisions and easy trusting usually came to bite me in the ass.

"Course not. So... you're...?" He questioned, leaning in closer. I nodded, biting my lip. His eyes bugged in his sockets. I threw a glance at Roxie, for some kind of clue as to what he was thinking and her expression was contrastingly soft with her hostile posture.

"It's okay." He said holding his hands up.

I pursed my lips.

"Do you know Sarah-Jane Smith?" I questioned. My alien brain was now easily piecing things together. First the doctor and us, chasing Slitheen, now Sarah-Jane.

"Yeah, he's my best mates mum."

I nearly choked – this was past coincidence.

"Are you serious?" I said. This was no time for messing around. I felt wildly elated. He sat down on the grass and patted it for us to join him. I sat down right in front of him, intent on what he was saying.

"So... you've met some nasty things?" I asked.

"Yeah. Some real terrors."

I stayed quiet for a minute. Sarah–Jane clearly hadn't given up on adventure. I couldn't say I was surprised. I think the only thing that could take me by surprise at this moment was a big fat alien waltzing round the corner and asking for my phone number.

"You know, when I told him about you, he went white as anything." Chris said. That was unusual. I wonder what I've done to_ this_ boy.

"Strange." I said with a shrug.

Then I didn't feel so good. Chris frowned at me in alarm. I felt like someone was crossing my grave. Maybe they were. I spied the piercing stare of a fierce looking girl right from the other side of the playing grounds; everything else seemed like a blur. I felt adrenaline building, this girl was so sharp. She couldn't possibly see us – I felt extremely dizzy.

I'm fairly sure it was then I blacked out.

In a part of school I wasn't familiar with yet

"Ruby? Ruby? Wake up!" Roxie shook me gently awake. Urrrrrgh, I felt awful… Ow, ow, ow, ow, this hurt!

"What happened?" I asked, rubbing my head, and carefully sitting up. Everything was blurry for a second or two, and then everything suddenly snapped back into focus.

"You hit your head awfully hard when you hit the floor," The nurse started to explain whilst handing me an ice pack for my head. "So it will swell for a bit and then start to go down at about two hours." I mumbled a barely audible thank you and looked at Roxie and Chris. Oh god…

"What happened?" Roxie whispered to me, sitting down next to me on the bed type thing. I winced at the thought of having to go back to class but I was sure everyone would think I was wincing in pain (which I half was).

"Umm."

"We've cleared it with the head teacher, since you are obviously in no state to learn, you're going home and these two are going to be with you for the next 24 hours." I brightened up considerably when the nurse said that and smiled at Ro. She has a very, _persuasive_ way of stating her case. So we left sick bay and made our way home. When we got there, we all sat down and made ourselves a refreshing cup of tea. Mhmm, I'm really starting to like tea.

"I can't believe Ronson let us off school!" Chris blurted out, referring to our head teacher, Mr Ronson. Me and Ro shared a look and said nothing. I slyly noticed her smile shyly at Chris.

"What?" He said suspiciously.

"I have a way with words." Ro lied airily, her gaze looking straight down and into her tea and then at Chris with a friendly face.

Chris didn't say anything after that and just comfortably drinking his tea and seemingly enjoying our (slightly quiet) company. I wish I could borrow Roxie's mind reading skills for a second to know what he was thinking. It was nice having a new friend and weird at the same time.

I went upstairs to get changed into some comfier attire. My room was the one on the left and it was still pretty bare. We'd concentrated on everywhere else in the house and I'd been so tired at the end of it I just couldn't be bothered to do mine. It was going to be fun painting this baby up. The emptiness was somehow profound as I rummaged through my boxes looking for some baggy grey trackie bottoms and a black camisole. I looked at myself in the mirror on my wardrobe. I was alright looking I thought. I had light brown hair with ranged from mildly wavy to wildly curly and out of control. Today it hung impeccably straight thanks to my hair straightners and with it so straight it hung a few inches short of my waist. Normally it was about boob length. I had very, very green eyes. My teeth were white and sharper than they looked. I had a shapely sort of figure... a pretty full bust (annoyingly) a small waist and sort of wide hips. I'm short, but luckily all in proportion. Sort of...petite.

I headed downstairs back to the kitchen after scraping my hair back into a sloppy ponytail – it was so relaxed bits of hair were already making a break for it.

"So, err, you know where Sarah-Jane lives?" I asked Chris and he smiled.

"Sure. Do you want to meet her? I bet she'd love to meet you. I need to drop a textbook round in a minute anyway. Wanna come?" With that simple, kind offer, I nodded my head and went back upstairs to my room. I sat on my bed and closed my eyes. I didn't really believe much in fate, but I thought that maybe the universe was trying to tell me something with all this coincidence. After about 5 minutes, Chris yelled up the stairs that he was about to leave, so I kicked myself off the bed and reassuringly grasped the chain of my pendent.

I thundered my way downstairs, grabbed my coat, said quick goodbyes to Roxie which she returned with some good luck and finally left with Chris to go and meet Sarah-Jane. We turned a corner at the end of our road, walked a bit along and stopped outside a house with a minty green car parked in the driveway.

"Nice car…" I commented, going up to the door with Chris. I felt like jelly.

"You okay?" Chris asked as we stood outside her front door.

"Yeah. This is weird." I told him.

"Surely not the weirdest thing you've seen," He chuckled and I smiled.

"Definitely not. But coincidence freaks me out."

"I understand."

He rang the doorbell and a middle-age woman answered the door. I thought she looked very pretty. She had auburn brown hair that was quite thick, mid length and she dressed nice. For a second I could see her face turned frosty but then it looked like she was remembering something and she put a friendly face on. I wished that Roxie was here to tell me what she was thinking.

"Hi Sarah-Jane." Chris greeted her and Sarah-Jane smiled and let us both in, obviously assuming I was a friend from school. I spotted some recognition in her eyes. Did she know me? She felt familiar.

"This is Ruby – She's quite new in town." Chris explained, plonking himself down onto the sofa, like he owned the place. Clearly he was a familiar face in this house and if his relaxed demeanour hadn't given it away, then the way Sarah-Jane looked upon him would've.

"My sister and I have just moved in down the street." I explained, perching myself next to him. I gave Chris a dirty look for putting his feet on the coffee table. Then Sarah-Jane spun round to look at me.

"Have I seen you somewhere before Ruby?" She said frowning at me, like she was trying to solve a complex problem. So it wasn't just me.

"I can't shake the feeling that we have met before." I apologised, frowning at her. I had to let her mind work it out for herself.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." She said comfortingly. I had no doubt that she would.

I nodded, and smiled at her. Chris left, mumbling about text books and went upstairs. When he left, I decided to go in for the kill.

"Sarah-Jane... I began nervously, shifting my eyes to the spot on the sofa where Chris was sitting a moment a go. I felt quite awkward.

"Umm, you know the Doctor?" Her face softened but I could tell that I'd made her blood run cold. This would be the key factor for her. I didn't know exactly how much she knew of me.

"What about him?" She said, cautiously, defensively.

"Well, before he dropped me off, he mentioned you... and here you are. Is everything on Earth this coincidental?" I asked, looking for signs of emotion on her face. I was being deliberately careless.

"You know The Doctor..." She breathed.

"Yeah. I've been in his company a long time." I whispered.

It dawned on me where I'd seen her once before.

"The Slitheen, I saw you when we ran into the Slitheen..." I smiled triumphantly. I was mildly freaked out by the heavy number of coincidences that were occurring today. Sarah-Jane looked very impressed. The memory had snuck into my mind at last.

"Yes your face looks familiar to me." She murmured and at that moment I think we both knew that wasn't it. There was something else.

"Well, since you obviously know the Doctor... perhaps you should come with me and take a look upstairs." She got up and beckoned me to follow her. I was secretly thrilled. I probably should've worked it out. Nevertheless, I followed her upstairs to what seemed to be the attic. I looked around and saw the picture on the wall. It was of the Doctor and her, and what seemed to be a robotic dog.

"You've met the Doctor then?" I said looking at the framed picture on the wall.

"I used to travel with him." She said nostalgically. Now this made so much sense. Why doesn't he just tell me these things? Cryptic old man.

"Same here. I stayed with him for an awful long time; he is literally, where my memory begins. He found me. And now here I am." I explained.

"What do you mean?" She asked. She didn't seem frosty at all now.

"I just... I don't remember my life before him." I confessed.

"I feel that way sometimes." Sarah-Jane sighed wistfully and I cracked a wry smile.

"No, I mean I can't remember a thing before I met him." I told her and she frowned.

"How strange." She dwelled and I anxiously changed the subject.

"Do you live alone?" I asked casually and just as Sarah-Jane was about to open her mouth to answer Roxie suddenly burst through the door with Chris following shortly behind her.

"You're so close Ruby," She muttered, her eyes more trance-like than I'd ever witnessed before; I suddenly felt the weight in my head, heavier than before from when she was looking in. Ro was intruding deep. She looked slightly deranged and I experienced a flurry of emotions from concern to embarrassment. Sarah-Jane was far from alarmed but remained looking slightly irritated.

"Who are you, how did you get in?" She snapped.

"Sorry, this is my sister," I blushed.

"He let me in," Roxie replied sharply and Sarah-Jane threw a look at Chris.

"Sorry," he mouthed. I stared frantically at Ro. I swiftly grabbed hold of her hand and yanked her to sit on the wooden attic floor and I looked at her. Sarah-Jane didn't make a fuss but instead quietly observed – I could tell she had encountered far stranger than this.

I tried to ignore the sets of eyes staring at us and concentrate on Roxie.

"What is it Ro? Just tell me," I murmured, trying to coax it out of her. She just remained dazed. I felt like she only knew I was talking to her because I was thinking it. I shuddered in surprise as I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Sarah-Jane.

"What's wrong with her?" She enquired and I swallowed nervously.

"You've melt aliens right?" I asked in return and she nodded. I flicked my eyes over to Chris and pursed my lips – Sarah-Jane didn't miss a thing.

"He has too," she offered but I remained silent whilst Roxie remained truly entranced. Begrudgingly, Sarah-Jane nodded at the door for Chris to leave and with a disgruntled expression he did as he was instructed. Sarah-Jane then turned her full focus to me.

"Tell me," She demanded.

"Roxie reads minds. She sometimes gets too stuck reading mine. We've been together forever. Recently something's been going on in my head that I can't figure out myself but she seems to be getting all of it." I said, feeling apprehensive sharing this. But I had faith that Sarah-Jane would understand – if she had been trusted by the Doctor, then there was no good reason for me to doubt her.

"I see," she replied with an understanding nod. Then turning her gaze from Roxie she focused her attention on me. It made me feel uncomfortable.

"What have you been thinking about?" She asked kindly. I hesitated.

"Well... about moving and leaving things behind." I said.

"That's a start."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"I'm sorry?" Sarah-Jane looked confused.

"That's what I'm thinking now," I clarified.

"I want to help you. I spend my life helping everyone whether they're from Earth or not. You've just come here fresh from the TARDIS. I think the universe wants us together." I admired her honesty.

"Sarah-Jane I don't know how I truly know you." I confessed, feeling more confused than ever.

"I feel the same. I can't think of where I met you before, it's sort of..."

"...Cloudy." I finished her sentence. She looked at me hard. I held her gaze for a while but then after a bit I kept looking back to Roxie. I was concerned for my sister. I didn't hear the attic door open.

"Hmmm. Why it so cloudy, like you said? It's like a want to remember you but then I'm blocking you out at the same time..." She mused.

Then I heard a voice that I didn't expect to hear.

"Is it because you can't believe what you're seeing?"

The second the words were out of his mouth I couldn't believe I'd heard them. And when I turned around and saw him, I couldn't contain the insane amount of happiness that was taking over my entire body.

"Ruby?" Luke said, practically brimming over the top with happiness. The final piece of the puzzle fell in place. Somewhere in the corner of my eye I registered Sarah-Jane looking shocked and Roxie beaming.

"Luke!" My mouth dropped a mile. He looked even better than I'd remembered... Distinct chocolate coloured hair in a mess, and amazing blue/brown eyes that shined like I'd never seen before. Everything I'd lost in my life was standing right in front of me and the only thing bugging me was how much of coincidence this is. But I shut that small insignificant part of me up pronto.

We both rushed over and hugged each other harder than you could ever imagine. The second I felt his arms around me, my entire life fell back into place and the indescribable feeling of joy was the only thing I could feel at that moment. I started to cry and we held onto each other tighter, never wanting to let go ever again. I could feel him clutching my hair.

"I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again, but I never stopped looking. Anywhere we went, all over the universe and I couldn't find you. I just wanted to be with you!" I sobbed, clinging on to him for all I was worth. I was just so glad, and so, so happy that he was alive and safe. And the best thing was, he held onto me for all I was worth too. He still wanted to be by my side. This was far more than I'd ever bargained for when I moved to Earth.

"I thought that I'd lost you forever, Ruby. I thought that I was never going to see you again too. I never stopped praying that you were okay." He whispered in that pain hardened voice that I knew all too well. It told me that I hadn't suffered alone. It was comforting in a strange way. Finally we let our emotional reunion end and we just stood there, holding onto each other. I didn't want to look anywhere else but at him. I heard Sarah-Jane speak.

"How on _Earth_ did I forget you?" She sounded shaken to her core and I didn't blame her – I was pretty shocked myself.

"Mum, I don't think you wanted to remember." Luke said and I closed my eyes to listen to each word. I felt like I was in another world. I was terrified this was some dream and I'd wake up lonely on my bed in my undecorated room.

"Mr Smith – I need you!" Sarah-Jane gasped and loads of smoke poured out of the attic mantle and lights flashed, machinery whirred 'till it revealed (Austin powers style) the biggest piece of alien technology I'd possibly ever seen. I remembered everything. Sarah-Jane smith, defending the Earth from her attic in Ealing, of course I knew her. How did I forget? I looked right at her and she was just as Luke had described to me forever ago. Her face suddenly lit up with understanding and it just glowed with happiness.

There was a pause that lasted about a heartbeat.

"Are you aware that there is a staphyleroc present in your attic?" Everyone turned to stare at me. I cringed, and I felt my face drain of colour. Then Chris muttered something. I rolled my eyes and ignored him going straight to question Mr Smith.

"How do you know my race?" I asked, curious to know what answer it would come up with. I felt very aware of everyone staring at me.

"I have data on every race in the universe. Staphyleroc genetic readings are also quite unique. Reason insists that you should not exist. Do you wish for me to share my knowledge on your kind, or would you prefer it to remain confidential?" It concluded. I sighed and quickly scanned the faces in the room. Chris looked unsettled, and Sarah-Jane looked mildly shocked but other than that this really wasn't news to anybody. Well. A few people.

"Go on then, you might as well enlighten them." They were still all staring at me, desperate to know more.

"The staphyleroc – these human-based life forms originate from the twin planet of Galifrey, Sunlok in the trilogy solar system, two billion light years away from Earth. Sunlok was destroyed in a great battle, often referred to as the time war. Sunlok was burnt, and took every single being living there to death. Ruby is the very last of her kind, and very lucky to exist. Staphyleroc DNA is a cross of human – thus her appearance – and time lord genes. These genes are found in the brain and in the heart. Ruby also has trace of Morphyis DNA around her arms and stomach area, creating psychic brain activity." Once Mr Smith had finished his data file, Sarah-Jane looked at me.

"You travelled with the Doctor." She repeated to herself, working it out from our earlier conversation. I was about to say something because at first I thought she was talking to me.

"Yes mum. This is Ruby." Luke said like an explanation. Sarah-Jane's face softened.

"For how long?" She asked curiously. Whilst they were talking I quietly thought to myself how any normal mother would be going mental but Sarah-Jane took it in her stride.

"It was when we were in Cardiff, remember?" He said.

"I do now," She said in a breezy tone.

"I don't quite know how this all got pushed away. Maybe you didn't want to remember," Luke offered. Sarah-Jane's face became truly grave.

"You were so upset," she said, sounding truly heartbroken. I stiffened.

Chris however was having a completely different reaction.

"What are you here for then?" He questioned.

"What?" I was confused.

"Why are you here?" He said simply. I wasn't sure where this was going.

"I've come to live here..." I said slowly. I had told him we'd moved in, he'd been to our house.

"Are you sure?" He said, a deadly undertone creeping into his voice. I felt Luke tighten up beside me.

"Chris, I don't know what you're getting at." I said, looking to Roxie for help. I was taken aback by her expression, her icy cool glare directed straight at Chris, and a low, menacing hiss escaped from her mouth. What on earth was she hearing in his thoughts to make her act like that? Chris took a pause then, assessing the hostility that was radiating from Roxie.

"Every alien that's come to earth has tried to invade it, so why should she be an exception?" He said, raising an eyebrow, daring me to object to the accusation.

"Chris." Luke said, a threat in the word. I was hurt. Roxie is right, I trust far too easily.

"Oh Chris, you spend too much time with me." Sarah-Jane jumped in, pursing her lips.

"Well?" He spat, waiting for me to answer. Roxie growled again, her arm half extended to get me.

"N-no!" I croaked, trying to think of the words that would make this right. So far, I had a whole lot of nothing.

I looked at Chris. I took a steadying breath and held onto Luke tighter.

"Chris if I never trusted you enough – if hadn't trusted any of you enough – I would never have let Mr Smith say anything about me in the first place. I have an InfoSpike; it can change my DNA readings. I thought that I was around people that I could trust... Excuse me, but I think I ought to be getting back." I whispered turning away from them all and just left. This wasn't fair... two days on Earth and already I'd stumbled into all this trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

I turned the corner onto our road, silently cursing Chris with a mixture of feelings. Would I forgive him? Probably, because let's face it, aliens that come to Earth are pretty much hostile. This didn't make me feel any better though – it just backed up my theory about never being able to fit in.

"RUBY!"

I turned around and saw Chris thundering after me. I stopped walking for him to catch up. I wanted to hear what he had to say. When he finally caught me up, he was practically hyperventilating.

"Yes?" I asked with a pointed expression on my face, waiting for his lungs to calm down.

"I'm sorry. Really sorry, for everything I just said. I'm just so used to... aliens being the 'bad guys'. And you're my friend, I don't know what I was thinking, I mean none of the aliens I've ever seen look like you, you know, except for the time when I saw you, but then you never know with these things, and I've grown so suspicious and-"

"It's ok. You were just being careful." I cut him off – his grey eyes were full of sincerity that I just couldn't turn down. I find it hard to stay mad at people for long anyway. We stood there for a second, him still looking sincere.

"You know you're the first friend I've made." I told him. His eyebrows raised in polite surprise.

"Ever?"

I tugged at the corners of my top, uncomfortable at this confession. Chris stepped closer to me.

"I'm honoured." He said with a cute smile. I smiled too.

"Did Roxie go home?" I asked, hoping her hostility will have worn off by the time I got back.

"Yeah, she went straight back to your house after muttering something to Luke." His face paled when he remembered her hiss.

"I am really, really sorry Ruby, I shouldn't have been so-"

"Shush I know you're sorry." I said playfully, pushing him on the arm. He smiled then, much more relaxed.

"I guess I'll be seeing you at school tomorrow then?" He said sheepishly.

"Sure." I said looking past him back to Sarah-Jane's house.

"He's not going anywhere Ruby." Chris departed with a wink and I went straight back to that house.

As I was walking back down that street I felt restless, I wanted to see Luke. I'd waited long enough. I wanted to know if he was actually real. I knocked on the door and pondered over Mr Smith. He was very well educated about staphyleroc – most computers had limited or no data on them.

It was Luke that answered. We stood there in a stunned silence as we just looked at each other. It had been such a long time. I didn't know whether to believe my eyes or not. The happiness of our reunion had momentarily past and in its place, a sense of scepticism.

"Are you real?" I asked cautiously. His eyebrows rose slightly but this boy far from stupid. He did not take offense.

"Yes," he insisted. I gulped, unsure of how to proceed. He sighed, frustrated.

"Look," he gently took my hand, which made me jump, and pressed two of my fingers to the inside of his wrist. I could feel his pulse racing. He was staring deep into my eyes, insistently. I trembled slightly. I knew I was crying again. I felt quite stupid. But without a second thought, Luke took me in his arms and let me sob. He played comfortingly with my hair, kissed the top of my head, rubbed my back. By the time I was done, I was completely exhausted and still standing in their doorway. I looked up at him. He was just smiling softly, stroking my cheek. He inhaled deeply.

"Let's get you home," he said with an air of disappointment, swiftly grabbed his keys and closed the door behind us.

"You're coming too?" I said in surprise. He looked at me again, in that way that made me realise nothing had changed at all – he wove his fingers into mine and we made the short trip in silent happiness to my house.

When we reached the front door, I was surprised to find it wasn't locked but was open ajar. I frowned at Luke and his expression became wary. I put my house key back in my pocket and nervously fiddled with the chain of my necklace, the way I always did when I felt a bit uneasy.

"Ro?" I called.

No reply.

We entered with caution, but when we reached the living room to see Roxie, I peeked in and she had fallen asleep in front of the telly. So I wandered into the kitchen to make some tea.

"Have you always drunk this much tea?" Luke joked and I smiled at him.

"I didn't even know what tea was until a few days ago," I told him and that made him laugh. The sound of his laugh was so refreshing for me to hear.

Suddenly I felt a bit sick, as if something was trying to push me around on a shaky ship. Then I thought of what was making me feel out of sorts. I felt for my necklace, it was tingling me; it had never done that before. It was the pendant, usually turquoise and beautiful - except it was glowing yellow. Strange. It had never done that before. Luke quickly grabbed it to look upon this unusual feat – he was the one that gave it to m after all. Perhaps we could get Mr Smith to analyse it tomorrow. I was beginning to feel tired.

"What's happening to it?" he wondered aloud and I yawned. I he raised an eyebrow and I covered my mouth, embarrassed.

"Sorry," I began, "I'm just feeling quite sleepy," I confessed. He passed the pendent back to me, hesitantly came towards me, as if he was going to kiss my forehead but at the last second changed his mind and we had an affectionate embrace instead.

Before I went to turn the light out, a flashing green light from outside the window caught my eye. Narrowing my eyes I saw it was coming from the Clarke's house. I raced down the stairs and tried to shake Roxie awake.

"Roxie, wake up!" I shoved her.

Nothing.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" I yelled at her, violently shaking her, nearly shoving her off the sofa. I hurriedly glanced to the window, and sure enough the house was still flashing green out of the windows.

"Roxie, this isn't funny, wake up!" I hissed at her desperately. Then I noticed that the pendant was glowing even more now it was closer to her – it was practically bursting with bright yellow energy. I held it in my palm and felt the energy pulsating through my hand. I knew that something was terribly wrong when I spotted a scar on her right hand, that was glowing the same green which I'd seen coming from the Clarke's house. Quickly, I put her into the recovery position, and went to look around the house for any signs of break in – I remembered that the door was opened when I arrived home; I thought she was just being forgetful. I also thought that she'd fallen asleep in front of the telly. I felt terrible. I kept looking for any other signs of a break in. There was none. Nothing, not a single thing out of place. I went back to Roxie and managed to lift her up and prop one of her arms around my shoulder and hobbled around to Sarah-Jane's house as fast as I could. It was the only place I could think of anything constructive being done about the situation. I grabbed the knocker and banged on it relentlessly until she came running to the door and yanked it open, shedding a pool of light onto me and Roxie.

"Sarah-Jane, there is something very wrong with Roxie," I panted, already marching half way up the stairs. All the noise must've attracted Luke's attention, because he came plonking out onto the stairs as well.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately when he saw me clambering upstairs with another body by my side.

"I don't know. Can you help me please?" I said, indicating that I might collapse under the strain of carrying an extra person. It made me wonder how pregnant women cope.

"Of course," He said, taking the strain. It was suddenly made much easier to carry Roxie.

"She hasn't changed a bit," He muttered, looking at Roxie. I rolled my eyes.

"Her attitude hasn't either. Wait until she wakes up – she'll be going mental when she finds out she's not at home." I replied, already grimacing at the thought. But I wasn't paying much attention to that; I was too busy keeping an eye on the worryingly green scar...

"Mr Smith – I need you!" Sarah-Jane said, as Mr Smith started up his machinery.

"Sarah-Jane, I believe that there is a Morphyis that needs urgent medical assistance. Do you wish for me to follow through?"

"Yes! And quick!" She told him, as me and Luke laid Roxie down onto the floor next to Mr Smith. I felt scared – that was my sister down there.

"Miss Ruby – you have the prime piece of medical equipment. Place it around Miss Roxie's neck." Mr Smith said. I was confused. Medical equipment? I didn't even have an inhaler on me.

"He means the pendant." Luke said, taking it off my neck and giving it to me. I placed it round her neck and a beam of bright yellow energy covered her body, purifying it. When the beam reached the green scar, it cleaned it off, like it was drawn on or something. But I knew that it was real – it had just been cleaned up, like the pendant was supposed to have done to it. The yellow energy turned a mellow green colour and then a stinging turquoise and sucked itself back into the heart of the pendant, returning it to its normal state.

"Miss Roxie will be asleep for a few hours." Mr Smith explained. I went to get the pendant. I was careful, so that I didn't do her any damage.

"You called her a Morphyis – why?" Luke questioned.

"…because that is what she is Luke."

"What's a Morphyis?" He asked, curious to know more. I smiled to myself. Still the same.

"I'm glad you asked. The Morphyis – these psychic based life forms originate from the planet Morphinaisyina in the kolus system, three thousand billion light years away from Earth. The people of Morphinaisyina are still alive but are facing a battle against time to survive. Their planet is facing execution by temperature as it slowly freezes to death. Morphyis have unlimited psychic capability ranging from placing thoughts into people's heads to very skilled levitation." Mr Smith concluded.

"Awesome…" Luke said, staring at us both in amazement.

"I know - isn't it just," I said, putting my necklace back on and then walking over to stand next to him. He put his arm around me and I felt myself blush. I don't think that Sarah-Jane noticed. Then I saw Roxie moving on the ground.

"She's moving!" I exclaimed, leaping closer to her immediately.

"How strange," Luke remarked.

"Why strange?" Sarah-Jane questioned. I studied her closer.

"Normally you'd be still for hours," Luke told her. Sarah-Jane narrowed her eyes.

"How do you know?" She asked and Luke just remained silent.

"She's fighting," I concluded.

"Same old Roxie…" Luke muttered only just loud enough so I could hear him.

"How?" Sarah-Jane asked coming over to join me.

"I don't know," I said, amazed.

Then I figured out what she was doing. Suddenly my phone buzzed, claiming I had a message. I was from Roxie (even though it came up with private number, but I knew it was something to do with this über-comlpicated Bluetooth simulative psychic wave link type thing that she explained to me once – I don't think I was listening, I was too busy counting my nose, or dreaming about paint dry).

It read:

**THE CLARKES ARE HIDING SOMETHING.**

**THEY'RE NOT FROM AROUND HERE.**

It took me a while to figure out what she meant, but then I realised that she must've meant that the Clarke's were bad news. Aliens maybe? I was a bit confused. Lots of aliens (admittedly) glow green, but this was different. The scar was glowing green, not the actual alien as far as I could tell. All I really needed to know was what kind of brain trends it had – their DNA pattern is like a signature on an artist's piece of work. I was busy thinking this whilst Sarah-Jane had propped Roxie up onto the chair and put a blanket around her to keep her warm.

"Sarah-Jane, do you have a file or something on the Clarke family?" I questioned, full of fire now that I had a decent idea of where that green energy could be coming from, or who was more the question in this case.

"No love, sorry. Perhaps Mr Smith could help you?" She said, implying that I was better off asking him instead of her. Luke had been resolutely quiet since Roxie has been put to sleep. It really made me think. What could be bothering him? Nope, can't wonder about that now, I had other things to take care of. And besides, it was getting very late – Sarah-Jane's clock already showed that it was way past midnight. It was a good job that we didn't have to attend school tomorrow. I was feeling wary and my brain was ticking. There had been a lot of coincidence occurring recently. There is definitely something going on. I just had to find out what. Starting with the Clarke family – if Roxie believed there to be something wrong, I usually believed that she was right.

"Has anyone noticed anything weird about them? I mean, they kind of helped us move in... Well actually I just bumped into one of them in the street, and they dress so strangely." I said to everyone, including Mr Smith. I sat myself down next to Luke without thinking – old habits die hard - and started fumbling with my necklace.

"Their daughter goes to our school." Luke offered.

"What's her name?" Sarah-Jane asked, sipping her cup of tea.

"Verity Clarke." I jumped in, hoping for useful reactions from the various people (and computers) in the room.

"She's in 10Y; she's a right stuck up-"

"-cow." I hastily finished off Luke's sentence, before another word rolled off his tongue.

"Hmm, well she looked fairly harmless to me. I wouldn't have thought she was in our year though. Maybe the year below, possibly the year before that." I rambled, thinking back to the curious girl, clocking me unpacking boxes when we first moved in a few days ago. Then I remembered the cold and fierce looking girl who was glaring at me from across the playing ground yesterday. I looked at Roxie, covered up in blankets and worried.

"Sarah-Jane, do you think I could stay here with Roxie? I'm not going to school tomorrow, well actually, Chris isn't either because I fainted and that-"

"Yes it's perfectly fine." Sarah-Jane said, interrupting me and cutting to the chase. I smiled a secret smile to myself, thinking about all the weird things that had happened today. Strange and over coincidental. It felt like something was trying to capture my attention. But I could worry about that later.

"I'm afraid you'll have to sleep on the sofa though." She said, half way downstairs to go to the kitchen to clear her mug away. I looked at Luke.

"I'll go crash downstairs then." I murmured, to no-one in particular.

I yawned and stretched out to look at the clock. It was 10:00AM. Good grief, it was only dawn! I still needed much more sleep, but I know that I can't go back to sleep after I'd woken up, so I wondered into the kitchen and saw that someone had thoughtfully left me out some cornflakes. I grabbed a bowl and sauntered upstairs to find Roxie. I figured that she must've woken up by now.

"Ro?" I said hopefully as I entered the attic. There she was, propped up on an armchair covered in blanket. I rushed over to her (taking care not to spill my cornflakes) and sat by her.

"Are you okay?" I asked her offering her a cornflake. She declined.

"Where am I?" She rubbed her head and stared around the room. "I thought I was at home watching TV, not here…" She murmured, still trying to take everything in.

"Well, you were, kind of… what was the last thing you remember?" I asked softly.

"Someone cut my hand," she said with confidence but frowning, concentrating hard to remember, "a girl. Then I was dreaming."

I mulled this over. I didn't mention the text.

"You know, Luke didn't know you were an alien." I said, measuring her reaction. She looked at me sort of sheepishly.

"I always just let him assume."

I smiled at that. We were quiet after that and I let Roxie pick at my cereal.

"What do you want to do today?" she enquired.

"Hmm. Shopping?" I suggested, keeping away from the subject of strange, hand cutting girls.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." She agreed. She was in charge of money.

"What time shall we leave?" Trust Roxie to turn to the practicality of things. Good to know she was back then.

"I don't know, but I think we ought to get dressed first…" I said rather pointedly, staring at our assortment of dressing gowns and PJs. I scrambled to my feet and went downstairs, in search of my house keys. I couldn't find them in the lounge, so I went into the kitchen. They were tucked around a corner on the side. I knew no-one else but we were home, so I grabbed Roxie from upstairs and we set off down the street in out pyjamas, hoping that we wouldn't see anyone who might recognise us.

A good few hours, two showers and a fresh change of clothes later we were in full shopping swing.

"I have to have that jacket!" I yelled a bit too loudly at the window display.

"Ruby, that's so expensive," Ro squeaked in disbelief at the price tag.

"I know but isn't it just gorgeous…" I tried to sway her. I looked at her with massive pleading eyes.

"I suppose it is kind of nice…" She muttered, weighing up the odds.

"Nice? It's a vintage original, and it's on sale rack! Please?" I begged.

"As much as I would love for you to get it, you only have twenty quid to spend," She pointed out rather sharply. I looked at her pleadingly again.

"Please, please, please, please!" I said, bouncing up and down on the spot.

Roxie sighed.

"Fine! Here. It better be a damn good looking jacket." She said, handing over her twenty quid with less than good grace. I grinned widely at her.

"Let's go get me a jacket!" I told her as I dragged her into the store.

"Why me…?" She whined as we went into the store. Shopping was working distracting her then. I was far from distracted though. Even the excellence of a vintage jacket couldn't distract me from how distressed I felt.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Let's see the jacket then," Sarah-Jane asked, looking up from her paper work.

"Ta-da!" I said as I produced it from the bag, and held it up against me.

"Wow, that looks… expensive," My smile slumped.

"…But lovely!" She saved quickly.

"Nice save," I told her, and then sat down on the sofa.

"So," She began. "What brings you here? I thought you girls would be out all day?" She queried, piling her things into different files. It must be so confusing, being a journalist/alien fighter at the same time.

"Roxie wanted to go and see Chris, and I didn't fancy staying at home alone – not after what happened." I confessed, twirling my hair between my fingers. Ro wanted to apologise to Chris for being too hostile. I had talked her into this – it took a lot of persuading. I was also distressed that it had barely been a week and I didn't even feel safe in my own home.

"That poor boy. I think she scared him a bit, didn't she?" Sarah-Jane smiled.

"Yes, well, we're very close. She gets very protective," I tried to explain, looking amused.

"Well Luke's not here, I sent him round the shop – we needed more milk."

"I didn't come to see him, I came to see you." I explained, revealing my ulterior motive.

"Oh – well what was it you needed to see me about?" She was interested. I could tell because her head tilted slightly towards the left hand side. You can learn a lot about people by their body language.

"It's Roxie – her scar has come back," I whispered, even though I knew that it was just me and her in the living room.

"Come back?" Sarah-Jane's tone was coloured with mild disbelief.

"Yes," I confirmed. She looked thoughtful.

"Maybe you should try the pendent again, when she's sleeping," She offered.

"Perhaps," I said politely, trying not to reveal my uncertainty.

"But if you want a second opinion – just go upstairs and ask Mr Smith, I'm sure he'll be happy to help." She said cannily and I realised that my attempt to hide my doubt failed.

"Thanks. Mr Smith – I need you!" I yelled as I ran upstairs to the attic.

"Ah – Miss Ruby. How may I be of assistance?" He asked. Even the computer knew me now.

"Ro's scar has returned. Any ideas?" I reeled off, sitting down onto a bean bag chair.

"I might be able to analyse something she has touched to give sufficient results." I fumbled around in my pocket and produced a ring that she was wearing when we were shopping. She told me to take it home, but I had other plans for it.

"I thought you might need something. Here you go." I put the ring onto the tray and Mr Smith took it in.

"The scar is still healing. Might I offer a further explanation?"

"Of course," I encouraged, leaning in closer.

"Your pendent – how old is it?"

"Find out," I told him, placing the pendent onto the same try where Mr Smith had scanned Roxie's ring.

I waited patiently for the verdict. I knew it was a long time since Luke had given me the pendent but I had no idea how old it was when he got it. Or where he got it from, as a matter of fact.

"The pendent is an old healing item," Mr Smith began. "It was used in hospitals to quickly heal patients and avoid permanent damage. Of course its effects have wearied in age – it is very, very old," he emphasised, "This is why Miss Roxie's 'scar' as you call it, has returned. The pendent has warded off permanent damage but the complete erasure was temporary,"

"Because it's old?" I double checked.

"Yes."

"Well that's as good an explanation as any," I concluded. My pendent was very old and was losing its marbles. Another thought popped into my head.

"Other than its aesthetic appeal, why would someone receive this as a gift?" I questioned carefully. This had been kicking around my mind for part of the day.

"It is said that a carefully made healing object such as this could offer the wearer protection from harm. But as I said, the pendent is very old – it is very likely that this is no longer the case," he explained and I nodded. This also made a lot of sense. It was a thoughtful and practical gift to bear.

"That must be why it hangs exactly to the heart," I murmured, "Or in my case hearts."

"A keen observation. I had not noticed," Mr Smith shared and I chuckled. This computer was surprisingly good company. Probably because it had no eyes to roll as me – though I had confidence that Mr Smith would have a vocal tone that would suffice. I fiddled with my necklace for a while in wonder, looked at the clock and realised that for the second night in a row it was becoming late and I was overstaying my welcome. Besides I was peckish and I hoped that Roxie might return home with some takeaway for us – maybe some forkless Chinese.

I went downstairs, intending on grabbing my things from the lounge. I was just ready to leave when I noticed that Sarah-Jane had just got off the phone. And then I noticed something else that was funny too. I'd been here for about an hour and Luke hadn't come back yet.

He'd only gone to get some more milk…

I phoned home.

No answer.

I was puzzled; maybe Roxie was still out? Then Sarah-Jane walked in looking flustered and panicked.

"Luke's missing," she said. My heart sank. Just when I'd got him back...

"I noticed." I told her, fiddling with my new jacket and placing Roxie's ring onto my finger. I didn't trust myself to keep it in my pocket.

"What do you mean 'you noticed'?" she said in confusion that snapped her out of her frantic panic.

"Well you only sent him to the shop for milk, didn't you? Even I don't take that long getting milk," I explained. "Have you tried his phone?"

"No answer," she said, becoming slightly anxious again. I thought for a minute.

"Chris?" I suggested.

"I've rang his home and mobile – no answer either," she said and I began to feel slightly anxious too. My brain began to tick. I had a funny feeling.

"Come with me," I instructed Sarah-Jane and she followed me to my house. I felt my stomach churn when I reached my front door – which now had a broken window and was hanging wide open.

Intrepidly I proceeded into our clearly broken into household with a buzz of terror in my brain. Sarah-Jane was right beside me. The whole living room had been ransacked, though nothing had been stolen and the same could be said for the kitchen. I daren't go upstairs. I stood still for a while, listening. I couldn't hear anything else other than the sound of Sarah-Jane's breath and my own. Now operating quickly I grabbed a backpack with a few things in, in case whatever was about to happen turned awry. Sarah-Jane was waiting outside when I returned.

"I have a massive hunch about where they might be," I shared.

"They?" Sarah-Jane quipped.

"When I phoned home I got no answer. Roxie should have been back by now. She went to see Chris a couple of hours ago, and I've tried phoning both of them and no answer. The house is broken into. Someone is looking for her. Now they're all-"

"Missing. I see. Right I'm coming with you," she declared firmly.

"So, where do you think they'll be?" Sarah-Jane asked. Good question.

"At a house - I can feel it. It's instinct. I also get the feeling that they're not alone." I told her as we walked down the street.

"I can definitely tell it's your instinct – your eyes, they're glowing green."

I stopped for a millisecond. That hadn't happened in a while. I was a tiny bit afraid.

"That means I'm right," I said. I started running then, not sure where I was going but knowing I had to get there fast. My gut was churning and my head was spinning with a million possibilities. I was scared – I wasn't great a fighting but I would if that's what it came to. I could hear Sarah-Jane running close behind me. We'd been down a few different roads, getting towards the industrial estate. The houses were beginning to look worn and bereft of occupants. I stopped outside a grizzly looking residence. I felt mournful. I went very quiet and Sarah-Jane said nothing. I closed my eyes and tried to just feel. I'd never been wrong before when I went on instinct.

"This is definitely the place," I breathed and I turned to face Sarah-Jane.

"Ruby your eyes..." she whispered and I promptly looked away from her.

"When my eyes glow green, I can be dangerous," I tried to explain.

"Dangerous?" Sarah-Jane enquired, frowning.

"It's like a fight of flight thing, like self defence," I whispered.

She turned me around to look at her. Her jaw was going slack.

"They're _so green_..." she was beginning to sound a little dazed. I promptly turned away from her again.

"I know, that's what they do, entice you in," I explained a little clearer. "Try not to look at me; you'll get so drawn in that you'll forget what you're doing,"

"That's amazing," she said and I could hear by her voice that the daze had worn off.

"The idea is you'll become a defenceless target so it would be easier for me to kill you. I hate this part of me," I confessed. Suddenly there was a screeching kind of wail coming from the house. I winced.

"That's not human," Sarah-Jane murmured, "We've got to go inside."

"Let me go in first," I persuaded her, "I can look at them," I reasoned. After some hushed arguing she conceded and I began to approach the building in a stealthy manner. I tried to be as quiet as possible.

We made our way inside, still undetected when there was a suspicious glow coming from one of the rooms. The door was left open a crack, just enough for the light to spill through and betray whoever was inside's hiding place. I sneaked a quick look through and recoiled in horror at what I saw. This huge, scaled creature with yellowed sharp teeth, not too different from what a lizard standing on its hind legs would look like. There was a human woman who I recognised to be Jane Clarke and the cold girl who must be their daughter. In the corner I saw Roxie – her face looking battered – Luke and Chris, tied up together, limp, lifeless and helpless. After the horror subsided, I was completely enraged.

"Sarah-Jane, it's them, I've seen them before!" It was really difficult not to look at her. I could feel my eyes getting worse; I shielded them with my hand.

"Who?" she demanded.

"The Sphears," I told her in a hurry. We had crossed them once before. "Sarah-Jane, they're empire builders. They destroy all life, just to get what they want most." I explained, still shielding. This was totally disastrous, I'd come to get away from all this and yet trouble still continued to follow me.

"And what is it they want most?" She asked. She sounded just as horrified and angry as I was. This woman was truly fierce.

I recoiled a little before I spoke.

"All they want most is the satisfaction of killing." I said.

I sniffed. "I can smell them." I didn't even have to look at her to know that we both couldn't stand laying in wait any longer and I burst through the door looking right at the giant scaled and completely repulsive alien creature, with Sarah-Jane right behind me.

"Ah. We've been expecting you." It said in a voice that sounded awfully familiar. It was too late to care about this detail, I felt completely consumed with rage.

"What have you done?" I snarled, lunging forward, but I was stopped by Mrs Clarke.

"You're not going anywhere." She whispered in my ear. I recoiled away from her as far as possible. How could she be an ally to that monstrosity? I hold her gaze long enough to slow her down.

"Who are you and what do you want with our planet?" Sarah-Jane questioned a beacon of strength and fearlessness.

"We are the Sphears. And we don't intend to let you or your devil eyed friend here, get in the way of our plans." The monstrous Spear laughed an evil laugh, and then turned to look at us. I couldn't help thinking how very cliché it was. My mind always turned to insignificant things at a time like this.

"Take them to the others – don't let them out of your sight Jane."

I realised with horror that the Spear ordering this compliant woman around was Robert Clarke and that the two women were Spears too – just not in their true form, still in disguise.

"Yes."

She grabbed Sarah-Jane and yanked us through to the corner, and bundled us in. There they were all three of them, tied up. Chris, Roxie, Luke all of them looking frighteningly lifeless.

"What did you do to them?" I shrieked in disbelief. Verity looked at me with a cruel expression, bearing some sort of a stun gun.

"Knocked them all out cold in just one shot," she cackled along with her mother.

"You're sick, all of you." Sarah-Jane muttered under her breath.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Miss Smith. We Sphears have the most developed hearing system in the entire galaxy." Jane hissed, showcasing her pointy tongue and teeth. They looked very out of place with her human face.

"Really? Well how does this sound then!" She held up a sonic lipstick that reminded me very much of the Doctor's own sonic screwdriver and blasted out the beams of sonic sound.

"Argh! My ears! My ears!" They all wailed, with their hands clamped against their ears, bent over double.

"Quick, get them free!" I said, now I was free from Jane's tight grip. I raced over, to help my friends.

"Not so fast! Did you really think you could fool us so easily?" Robert yelled, regaining his massive hostile stance.

"Well, let's see how you cope with the true form of all the Sphears!" He yelled and slowly as the two women mutated they revealed the same rotten, scaly, mutated skin; razor sharp teeth and claws; a pointed tongue that hissed with poison and horrific eyes of vile red. All of them were slowly edging towards me and Sarah-Jane, boxing us into the other corner – savouring their kill.

"Not so powerful now, are you, human!" He yelled, pinning me against the wall. He was certainly right. But now he had made the mistake of giving me a clear shot of looking into his putrid red little eyes.

"You're right. You do seem to have the advantage." I said nervously. He smiled the smile of evil satisfaction. I felt my eyes glow.

"You are missing one small detail. I'm not human," I told him, my voice gaining a sense of confidence.

"What? That's impossible!" He half-screamed. Then his face became slightly more lax. I steadily held his glare, not breaking the gaze for a second and I slowly felt behind my back and into my rucksack, steadily pulling out, but still concealing, a large and sharp kitchen knife.

"Sarah-Jane! Don't look!" I yelled out in warning to her but I couldn't look to see if she had followed through – I just had to hope.

"But why would she do that? Your eyes are _so green_..." Robert said dozily. This was my moment to strike.

"I know," I assured him, at last wielding my knife and with all the force I could manage I cast a mighty blow to his neck – it sliced his head clean off. I felt a little bit sick, still enraged, but now also a little victorious.

"NO! ROBERT!" Yelled Jane, her face crippled with emotional pain. I turned to face Jane and Verity. The burn in my eyes remained but I knew I wasn't going to face any danger from these two.

"How could you?" Jane whimpered, breaking down into tears and dropped to the floor.

"You killed my dad." Verity said slowly.

"Well let's think about it shall we?" I proposed, kindly averting my gaze from them. I was breathing fast from adrenaline.

"What is there to think about? You murdered my husband!" Jane sobbed.

"But there is. The Sphears – what do you do? Kill for personal satisfaction. Am I right?" They both nodded. My lips curled back in disgust and I fought looking at them both. I still held tightly onto my bloody knife in case my kindness was betrayed.

"Have you ever once stepped back and thought how it was going to affect someone else?" They both slowly shook their heads.

"I thought so. Now out of all the people you kill, there is always someone out there that would be feeling the way you feel now, Jane, and you too Verity." I reasoned. Jane and Verity hung their heads in shame. It was an odd contrast to their hideous mutant like forms.

"These are the consequences of death. Now, I suggest you go back to Sphearox, or wherever you came from, and have a good long think about what your purpose in life all these years. If you want to take it to a higher authority – there isn't one. It stops with me." I told them, this time turning to look at them and pointing my knife at them both. They stood up.

"We will go home now." Jane surrendered and abruptly teleported away with her daughter. I dropped my knife and but my head in my hands. I felt Sarah-Jane's arms around my shoulder. I knew my eyes had returned to normal; I couldn't feel the burn anymore. I looked at Sarah-Jane, and she looked both solemn and impressed.

"You did the right thing," she assured me and I nodded in thanks.

Then something more important occurred to me, and I rushed over to my unconscious friends. The tears started sliding down my face before I could acknowledge them. I stared at all their slack faces and felt a sharp distinct pain. Roxie's face was full of bruises and Luke's was painstakingly lifeless with Chris looking much the same. Trembling, I took my pendent off from around my neck, healing each one of them in turn. When I was satisfied that they were all just sleeping I sat by them, not knowing what to do with myself.

"They'll be fine Ruby." Sarah-Jane said quietly, kneeling down next to me.

Inconveniently, just then my mobile rang – it was Martha. I shook off my emotions – Martha didn't need to hear about this or anything else that had happened. All she needed to know was I was fine and we'd settled in. Composure.

"Hi Martha!" I faked brightly, but actually delighted and relieved to hear from her.

"Hey Ruby – How's your new life?" She asked airily.

"I can honestly say...It's like I never left."


End file.
